Compiling Program

phreek_23

<div class="IPBDescription">What's the best?</div> Hey guys, i'm new to the modelling community, and i've started to model for the past month or so and i'm loving it! i've learned to model, and skin fairly well and i've made two new medpacks which i believe are quite nice, but....i need to know what a good .mdl compiling program is? i know how to compile it in milkshape but MS3d just isn't good enough (too many errors at times and it won't make it into a .mdl), anyone know any good programs? it'd be a great help for me, thank you in advance <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/smile.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile.gif'><!--endemo-->

coil

Get the HL SDK; it includes everything you could ever need to know about modeling, as well as studiomdl, which you use to compile SMD animation files into an MDL.

phreek_23

Thanks a bunch coil! just one question though, where do i get HL SDK? <!--emo&:p--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/tounge.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='tounge.gif'><!--endemo--> hahaha

JediYoshi

I'm thinking Valve ERC, or whatever that is, or just search on Google, it's the <b>most main</b> building block of making any MOD, btw <!--emo&:p--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/tounge.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='tounge.gif'><!--endemo-->

Jamil

Yes, Valve ERC. It's quite large though, so be warned.

phreek_23

Ooooh <!--emo&:(--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/sad.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='sad.gif'><!--endemo--> , all i want is that studiomdl.exe or whatever it is, cuz all i want is something that will produce the .mdl, since Milkshape 3d doesn't have a very good one, i dont wanna download that whole thing just for that file, heh.

Jamil

I can already answer your next question. You'll need to find the 3dsm smd exporter plug-in as well. I think it's in the SDK.

coil

The SDK is a good thing to download, regardless, as it explains a lot of the nuts and bolts of modeling and especially of exporting your model to MDL. Once you've downloaded it, you can delete the parts you don't need.

phreek_23

Umm, are there any other good programs by any chance that will create .mdl's? <!--emo&???--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/confused.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='confused.gif'><!--endemo-->

phreek_23

WEll, what should i get then? FULL HL SDK? or STANDARD HL SDK?

blue2k

milkshape has a built in version of studiomdl.exe which is what is used to compile your collection of files into a workable .mdl, some people use milkshape to compile, some use studiomdl.exe and they all swear that one form or another is better but infact they are both identical. milkshape has a problem when it is asked to compile more animations than it has been programmed to do, this is why milkshape sometimes freezes on compilation. i tend to use the dod version of studiomdl.exe to compile because that has been altered to allow for more animations than a normal hl model.

Zanid

OK, heres a somple one, I just finished a katana knife model just to test out my ability but i DONT KNOW what to do from there. i made it in 3dsM5. it doesn't have any animations and its still a 3dsM5 file what now?

Jamil

As far as I know, we've had zero luck preserving half-life skeletons in 3dsm. I'd export your model to milkshape, and stick it on the knife hands.

Maus

Kratisto's compile tools are attached to the main post of "Modelling 101" (stickied), and there's a link in there to a download for Valve's modelling guide too.